Monthly Archives: January 2002

We made veggie momos today. Momos are usually made with meat — red meat — but since one of us doesn't eat that, we improvised a little. If you'd like to emulate our recipe, here is what you'll need:

A bunch of cilantro Some garlic Some ginger A bunch of mixed vegetables Some onion (I just used green onion because Rachel doesn't like it) Goat cheese (since we can't get yak cheese) Some rice A little butter

As far as cooking implements, you'll need a steamer, but other than that just the basics (a couple regular sized pots, a pan, a cutting board, a knife, etc… Nothing that shouldn't be in every home. A blender makes it easier but is certainly not required. Now, some basic instructions (although let me strongly recommend you take someone else's advice since I made up this recipe and I'm no chef):

Probably the first thing to do is throw on your rice. Cooking rice is really easy, but if you're cooking some kinds of wild rice just remember it takes longer and that the normal 2:1 ratio of water to rice might not be the same (RTFM).

Prep the ingredients by chopping everything up… If you're using a blender you can skip this.

Prep the sauce by giving the veggies a quick fry to soften them. Mush it all up with the goat cheese. If you're making some without the cheese, keep that separate. This is the step that could easily be done in the blender. Note that if you're using meat, just add some ground goat meat into this mush.

Oh, and by now you should have your dough prepped — it's just a really basic flour and water dough. Any flour will do; I used white flour. If we were doing it by the book we'd have used a barley flour.

Tear off acorn sized balls of dough and flatten them. Put a dollop of stuffing in the middle and bunch them up to the top to close. Make sure they're closed or they'll make a mess in the steamer! Assuming you're sure, add them to the steamer — this will take twenty or thirty minutes.

When you're done making all the momos, if you have left-over stuffing, you can throw in a few more veggies with it and fry it as a side dish — the stuffing will turn into a nice sauce.

All ready to eat! Serve with soy sauce.

To be perfectly honest, I think I liked it more than Rachel did. She said she liked the dough, so I think I'm supposed to go make her some plain roti now… I'm told that when the middle puffs up it means someone is hungry!

Earlier today I wrote and submitted my ear stretching experience to the engine. I submitted it using my oooooold handle, 2HVDE (if you don't get it, imagine what it would take to cast that word as a shadow — I've illustrated it at the bottom of this entry). Anyway, since I submitted it in a way that didn't prove “written by Shannon Larratt” I hoped it would get more honest reviews… Two comments (both votes no) caught my eye; the first one:

DENIED Reason: Misinformation Comment: There should be a larger warning/disclaimer about piercing guns, and using those studs to pierce ears.

In regards to the this first comment, my ear was pierced using a mall gun when I was younger, as were pretty much all ears during that timeperiod. There were no studios for me to go to, at least not within five hundred miles. There was no generally publicly available information out there on the risks, or that there were other piercing options out there. I included statements in the experience making it clear that I wouldn't repeat the gunning knowing what I do now and included a brief explanation why. It isn't reasonable to ask people to include a larger warning than I have, especially given that in this case the gun piercing itself is only a very peripheral part of the experience.

Let me suggest that this look at my ears; they're pretty much the most cleanest healthiest stretched lobes I've seen (even in the damaged photo I included you can see that the stretching is even and clean with no “lip” or anything like that). Denying an experience because you think I didn't do enough research, especially that long ago, is just foolish. I made it clear about a zillion times that when I did this, there WAS nowhere to do the research. My only source of information was a book on the Maasai which showed how they did it — cut the hole with a tin can, and then put in found objects. I can only imagine what the reaction to that would be.

And, I should add that my “non politically correct” method of stretching that I used on my first lobe worked a lot better the the “by the book” method I used on the second. Yes, that's right: For me, stretching with found objects of highly questionable biocompatibility resulted in a better stretching than doing it with proper body modification jewelry and tapers.

Remember, the experiences are there to serve as documentation for the experiences people have gone through. You can't deny an experience just because you didn't like the way the person did it (that said, if the person is recommending that others copy them, it's a different story). Anyway, just out of interest, since this is my experience I figure it's OK to anonymously share the comments that people left since it's something you don't really get to see:

“maybe” button. *g* its not a fairy tale but that is why i like it. it tells how not to strech your lobes, he does go on about other experiences but it all links back to his streched lobes. he gives a warning to the reader. WOW. Very interesting. I learned something very throurough and cautionary expereince. very well written, good disclaimer at the end Very informative! I send congrats to the person for bringing this story out! A very detailed account of stretching his ears It turned out to be very considerably better than I first thought it was going to be. damn…a sunburn on the inside of a piercing has to be a bitch…. This is really good. Complete with warnings about what should not be “done at home” only because of the time when it happened. if it was earler then that i would deny it for harmful context. This article was very well writen and I think this is Shannon but I'm not 100% sure, either way it is a very good experience and should be featured. It is very interesting and honest. He does warn against his behavior and I believe that people could learn a number of things from his experience. it's good writing , good advice Awesome esperience. And pictures too! Good experience, good disclaimers and pictures! Although the methods used in this experience could be dangerous to the public, it's explained that there are safer ways to accomplish the desired outcome and not to follow what was done here. Experience was very well written, ventured off course for a min, easy to read A well documented story, I like the fact that its inclusive of warnings and pictures. More experiences should have pics. Well written experience A wonderfully funny and excellently written experience. Interesting…it's a gun story, but the pictures are incredible. Disgusting too :P Good experience. Makes you appreciate tapers! well written, really interesting,,,,i wish more were like it although this article has many no-no's when it comes to stretching lobes (as the author pointed out many times), it looks like he put a lot of effort into this experience. it is well-written and the pictures are a great addition. Very interesting and a good use of HTML. well written, informative, includes pictures. soudns great to me Articulate, honest, explains that what he did was not the best thing but worked for him, includes small visual aids. One of the best experiences I've reviewed so far; great spelling and grammar, well written, funny AND interesting, all wrapped up in a delicious package. Highly recommend this experience to be featured. good experience, especially for diy kids… EWWWWW that's really cool :) Yowzas. Wow. This is OK. interesting, well written and makes excellent use of html/images. well done! Well written experience, Knew I should have listened to more Hammer Good detail, careful to discourage dangerous practices, well writtten Good experience in that it was very detailed and warned others that this method would most likely not work for them. I really liked it. Very well written, I especially enjoy the experiences with pictures attached. Good. This was interesting, and I find that second picture very gross… I thought this was excellent. I especially appreciated the 'don't try this yourself' warnings. The experience was well written and nicely detailed. Good history of his stretching, adding pictures was a nice touch Very good article! interesting read, accurate in terms of spelling and grammar, addition of pics is nice. This is great. Despite the fact that there are some unsafe practices, the author goes on to explain why they are unsafe, and how and why they should be avoided, as well as explaining why piercing guns are so bad. yay! Well-written, good content including cultural that might be of interest to others researching this type of modification. good advice. lots of details. good story. helpful. I've never heard of anything like this….especially the sun burn!! so i think it should be posted as it is unique Only minor errors in spelling and grammar. No reason to deny. Interesting story that includes warnings about not following his example. Rarity but does not come across as fake. i really like this. amazing. Fantastic This is an Okay experience, a little too long but oh well… It's great, it got disclaimer about what he did. We know everything about the stretching.

Anyway, this was a LOT of fun. I think that I'll have to write a few more experiences… It's actually pretty shameful that I haven't written more…

Finally, I wanted to repeat something important. This has always been online here, but I feel warrants constant repition. It's BME's statement of purpose — I know I lose track every once in a while and this helps me think about why I'm here. When you're reviewing experiences, this might help:

What is BME's goal?

To let people know they are not alone and to help them to understand who they are and what they are going through.

To provide a space allowing people to share their experiences with body modification and manipulation.

To politically and commercially encourage the ethical growth of body modification and manipulation.

To generate revenue and succeed as a traditional business, and to reinvest a part of these profits in body-related projects.

To educate the public about body modification and manipulation for the purposes of safety, history, culture, and good will.

When possible, to unify people interested in body modification and manipulation subjects.

To never judge one body modification or manipulation activity as more "right" than another and never succumb to public (mainstream or non-mainstream) pressure to draw this line.

To act as a media liason to encourage accurate portrayals of body modification and manipulation and to encourage positive mainstream acceptance of body modification and manipulation activities.

To work with other body modification and manipulation groups to further our common goals.

I picked up all the supplies for a nice Nepalese meal — I'm making a light salad, along with some goat cheese momos and red rice… Turns out I've misplaced my steamer though (momos are stuffed dumpling things, so a steamer is a requirement), so that meal will have to wait a day…

Oh, and we're pretty sure we accidentally put two kilograms of sugar in the beer instead of one. I have to remember to call the homebrew place tomorrow to see if I should start over, or if it'll just make a very sweet (or very strong) beer.

1. You asked for it! The autobiographical (as in all questions submitted by the person they are about) quiz is up. I'm sure the clever people can guess the URL, but why bother when you can just click here to answer the 26 true/false questions now.

2. You might be asking for it! I posted this in a forum recently in regards to someone considering getting implants done. I wanted to post it here to make sure it doesn't scroll away. Things like this will be included in BME/risks when it's added (soon, soon), and that will of course include references as well (for those of you who need specific proof that I'm not just making it up).

The discussion was about implants rejecting; it was mentioned that pointy (for example pyramid shaped) implants can reject quite quickly. I felt it was important to point out the often overlooked obvious:

ALLLLLLL ALLLLLLL ALLLLLLL implants (and most other mods) will do long term damage to the tissue both above and below them. How much will of course vary from person to person and from implant to implant according to shape and material, but if you get implants, you must:

Accept the fact that you might need to take it out, and that depending on the implant, taking it out may be a far more destructive procedure than the putting it in.

Understand that problems may not become apparent for a decade or more, and just because some people haven't had significant problems in the short-term does not make a procedure safe.

Accept the fact that damage, perhaps slight, perhaps significant, will be done in the surrounding area at a minimum. Accept the fact that the practioner may be utterly unaware of these risks and may even deny them.

If you are putting the implant on top of muscle (ie. most arm implants, off-centre chest piercings, etc.), realize that irreversable damage will be done to that muscle, leading to permanent physical disability.

If you are putting the implant on top of bone (ie. sternum implants, forehead implants, etc.), realize that irreversable bone resorption will occur.

If you are putting the implant on top of tendons/ligaments/etc. (ie. hand implants, inner wrist and forearm, etc.), realize that irreversable damage will be done to the functionality of these parts.

If you are putting the implant on top of nerve bundles (many many muscular implants have this problem) realize you will do both short term and long term damage to both the nerves at the implant and anywhere "down the nerve tree" from there.

If you are using carved silicone or other carved implants, realize that there may be no way to properly sterilize the implant, and that contaminants may be released in the long term. Realize that the person doing the implant will quite likely be unaware of these facts.

Realize that the materials being used on you may not be fully biocompatible and you may react to them. Realize that the people putting the implant in you may well be lying about the materials. Realize that if it's not a doctor doing the implant, that there may be no way for the practitioner to legally get quality supplies (leaving them as either criminals or someone using poor supplies).

Realize that the worst case scenario is not just "take it out", but could be as extreme as permanent physical disability or death.

Realize that if problems develop, you may need to see a doctor/hospital, and you may need to fly to see the practitioner for removal -- be sure you can afford this backup plan.

Steps can be taken to minimize these risks, but they can not be eliminated entirely. With care, the risks can be pushed into the negligable (ie. safe) range -- with a bit of common sense, it's quite obvious what should work and what definitely won't. I don't think people should stop doing these procedures, but I sure hope that people understand both the short term and long term risks when they do it.

Realize as well that 99% of the practirioners doing these procedures are not medically qualified to do and that they may not even be aware of that fact. Realize as well that most will give you little to no risk disclosure (an explanation of all possible problems), and often don't even know what it is. Most importantly, realize that although these procedures are not really that difficult, that handling the myriad of potential complications is what doctors specialize in... Very few "underground practitioners" are properly trained in handling these -- I can think of only a small handful, and the majority of those have gone through some degree of medical training and maintain an extremely low profile.

There is a surprising amount of practical knowledge on these subjects contained in the medical websites on the net. Educate yourself!!! It's the only way to be ensure a high chance of safety and success! Also, plastic surgery books come up regularly at excellent prices on eBay -- I just bought a book two weeks ago for something like $15 that was SPECIFICALLY on biocompatibility in genital implants. Amazing specialty book for almost nothing...

I want to make it very clear that similar notes that I've made above about implants can be made about almost all mods, and that I will be doing so over the next few months. As soon as you do an invasive procedure on your body, you put yourself at risk. I believe that it's a valid and justified risk, but it's a decision that people must make with a complete awareness of all the issues involved.